How do you lower your grocery bill eating healthy..
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The biggest thing was adjusting my expectations of portion sizes when I switched to healthier/fresher foods. For a while I tried to volumize my meals with tons of veggies, etc. and while that was certainly more satiating it was also more expensive (and not really necessary). Scale back to normal portion sizes, even of fresh vegetables and lean proteins, and you'll find the expense easier to bear than if you're making salads with entire bags of greens and rounding out a small dinner with four cups of broccoli (or whatever).0
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I'm not being snarky. I don't understand these posts. eating fresh is so much cheaper than eating premade crap food. A whole chicken is less than $5. After you eat it, you cook it and make soup and add left over, and almost spoiled veggies and stuff. You have a few more meals.
It's so cheap to eat better, but I think there's a learning curve because everyone does it wrong for a while. It takes a while to figure out what healthy really means. And, then, it takes even longer to figure how that translates into savings.
Edited to add that frozen veggies are extremely expensive. I go to buy them and cringe, and then go buy fresh. I'm not paying in excess of $8 a bag. It's crazy expensive where I live, or where I shop, I don't know.
I am with you. I don't understand how everyone says eating healthy is more expensive. I spend $80 a week for 3 on produce and meats for dinners and stuff to make 3 lunches a day. When I bought processed foods I spent almost $200 a week.0 -
Frozen produce is just as healthy as fresh. When cooking use frozen when it works. Frozen greens and dried beans, both incredibly healthy foods, are usually best bargain in the store. You will pay about 10x the price for enough fresh greens to cook down to a $1 bag of frozen.
Build your menus around whats on sale at your grocer, rather than planning a menu and then buying expensive out of season foods to fit the menu.
Stock up on non-perishables (dried, canned or frozen foods) when they are on sale.0 -
I'm not being snarky. I don't understand these posts. eating fresh is so much cheaper than eating premade crap food. A whole chicken is less than $5. After you eat it, you cook it and make soup and add left over, and almost spoiled veggies and stuff. You have a few more meals.
It's so cheap to eat better, but I think there's a learning curve because everyone does it wrong for a while. It takes a while to figure out what healthy really means. And, then, it takes even longer to figure how that translates into savings.
Edited to add that frozen veggies are extremely expensive. I go to buy them and cringe, and then go buy fresh. I'm not paying in excess of $8 a bag. It's crazy expensive where I live, or where I shop, I don't know.
I am with you. I don't understand how everyone says eating healthy is more expensive. I spend $80 a week for 3 on produce and meats for dinners and stuff to make 3 lunches a day. When I bought processed foods I spent almost $200 a week.
I don't understand what you guys don't understand. Food prices vary a lot depending on where one lives. The further from a major centre or food growing region you are, the more expensive fresh things will be. Processed foods have the luxury of slower forms of transport because the won't spoil. They don't need insulated trucks, because processed food won't perish if it gets too warm or too cool.
I live on an island in the North Atlantic. Fresh produce has to come from a *long* way away at this time of year. Many things aren't imported at all, so all of our chicken, eggs, dairy and some other meats are produced right here, in large part because it's just too expensive to import a lot. As a tree hugger, I think this is awesome because it's sustainable and more ethical. But it also means we don't see the cheap prices that factory farms, massive slaughterhouses and their ilk provide many people elsewhere on the continent.0 -
A tip for people who have a hard time getting provide in the winter, I go through phases when I sprout lentils and alfalfa (I did a lot of research and I didn't find any home spouters who had bacteria problems). They only take a few days and are really inexpensive. Great for adding to all kinds of stuff.
You can also make farmers cheese from milk by just bringing it to a boil, adding vinegar, and straining. It's pretty yummy and you can add herbs and stuff if you like.
tamales: these aren't traditionally the healthiest things, but i use olive oil instead of lard. I make a huge batch once a year and then guys have something fast to microwave for awhile. It gets me out of buying fast food and is less expensive (and tastier) than frozen burritos or something.0 -
I thought that by eating healthier our bills would go up: not quite. Once we got our methods figured, I figure we're spending less on food than ever (approx $200/two week cycle between groceries and eating out).
Shop the sales - we make a game out of how much we can save, then plan meals around what you end up with. Patronize small local businesses - we buy our tortillas and chips from a local taqueria about $4 for a dozen homemade tortillas and huge bag of chips, we try to get our eggs from local producers too. We're vegetarian(ovolacto) so meat is not an issue, but when our soy favorites come up on sale we stock up. Clip coupons and use them. I've also had to do a lot of research for veg meals that don't include a lot of frou-frou spices and hard to afford ingredients (I mean really, why do some vegetarian cookbook authors think you need and extravagant expensive spice list for every single dish!) but if a meal that costs $5 to make and is dinner plus left overs, I've won. Admittedly, it's not easy, but if you work it is very doable.0 -
As a single, I purchase, cook and freeze in big lots so its cheaper. I'll cook 2 quarts of slow cooking oatmeal, and scoop out 3/4 cut daily and nuke it with 2 tablespoons of peanut butter for breakfast and top it with flax seed. I'll cook a gallon of quiona and store it by 2 cups work in freeze bags, squashed flat. When I want some I'll pull it out of the feeze and break some off. 'lll make mini or fish meat loafs and freeze all and pull them out as I want them. I buy bags of veggies and pull as much as I want and nuke them. I normally shop at Sam's club or the Dollar Tree. I also made an excel spreadsheet of items I shopped for and their cost per ouch or item at various stores. Sams and Dollar Tree pretty much beat out everyone. I don't drink anything but water, and don't eat prepared food which is expensive, full of salt and trans-forming you into a corpse fat.0
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I shop for meat and produce at Sprouts and the rest at Safeway. Feed a family of four between $100-$130 weekly.0
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Today for lunch I had 4oz of chicken breast, 1/2 cup of beans (from scratch, bulk/dry), and 1/2 cup of cooked rice and 1/2 an avocado. Total cost...$2.30....my wife had exactly the same...so both of us ate a solid, nutritious meal for $4.60.
I seriously don't understand all of this "nutrition is more expensive than crap food" stuff that always comes up on MFP. I think people just have a very skewed view of "healthy" and don't really know how to shop. My guess would be that there's also some picky eating nonsense going on as well.0 -
I'm fortunate that my grocery store (Safeway) provides generic coupons, club specials, and personalized discounts based on how you shop. I generally get apples for $.79 a pound, or a 10% discount for buying fresh meat (among many, many others). There are 4 of us in my home and we spend an average of $160 a month. Best part is every $100 we spend is a $.10 gas discount. And I like to plan my meals based on what sort of deals they have going.0
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Today for lunch I had 4oz of chicken breast, 1/2 cup of beans (from scratch, bulk/dry), and 1/2 cup of cooked rice and 1/2 an avocado. Total cost...$2.30....my wife had exactly the same...so both of us ate a solid, nutritious meal for $4.60.
I seriously don't understand all of this "nutrition is more expensive than crap food" stuff that always comes up on MFP. I think people just have a very skewed view of "healthy" and don't really know how to shop. My guess would be that there's also some picky eating nonsense going on as well.
Youre right, I dont know how to shop. Thats why Im asking for help.0 -
I am in a very similar situation except with 5 people. I was thinking about this today and I thought I if we would all stop being so picky we could probably life off of eggs most of the week as well some garden stuff and things made from scratch.
I have 6 pet hens that give me about a half a dozen eggs a day.0 -
One thing I do is that I always bring a calculator with me when I food shop. I have a set budget I need to stick by and I round everything up to the nearest dollar. You'd be amazed what you can actually get and how much you save, It makes you more aware of what your spending and forces you to look into other cheaper options. I have a family of three however my husband is in the Army and has a HUGE appetite along with my daughter. I make a normal meal for all of us, limit my portions and we always have left overs in the fridge for future meals.
Good luck! :-)0 -
Per a friend's recommendation, I started shopping at Aldi... they don't have everything a regular grocery store carries, but I am able to buy most/all of my weekly items there. I was spending about $110 or so per week at a local grocery store and cut that to about $70 or so at Aldi. It may be worth checking out if you have one nearby!
ETA: I generally buy fresh food and not a lot of frozen items. At Aldi I have been buying produce, dairy, as well as meat. I really like their produce and dairy and have been mostly happy with their meat. I've heard of others not loving their meat though.
I love Aldi's. If I were trying to eat.healthy and buying from a regular grocery store I would just be out of luck.0 -
Today for lunch I had 4oz of chicken breast, 1/2 cup of beans (from scratch, bulk/dry), and 1/2 cup of cooked rice and 1/2 an avocado. Total cost...$2.30....my wife had exactly the same...so both of us ate a solid, nutritious meal for $4.60.
I seriously don't understand all of this "nutrition is more expensive than crap food" stuff that always comes up on MFP. I think people just have a very skewed view of "healthy" and don't really know how to shop. My guess would be that there's also some picky eating nonsense going on as well.
Youre right, I dont know how to shop. Thats why Im asking for help.
Staple foods...
- dried beans, lentils, split peas, etc
- rice, oats, other grains
- potatoes
- cabbage (and other hardy veg like broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, etc...but cabbage is super cheap and nobody every thinks of it...and it's pretty darned good, but I was raised on the stuff)
- eggs
- butter
- full fat dairy products (fat isn't the devil and less processing is going to be cheaper)
- staple fruits like apples and bananas...nothing exotic
- "less desirable" cuts of meat...i.e. tougher cuts and fattier ones...personally I find them more desirable and due to the fat content you don't have to eat as much. A good brisket will serve my family of 4 for about a week at around $20 - $25...you just have to find some cooking time as it is a very tough cut (I often use the crock pot). There are a whole host of options here that won't break the bank.
- whole chickens and/or chicken parts rather than already processed, boneless, skinless stuff. If we feel like having a grilled boneless skinless chicken breast, I'll buy a skin on bone in split breast and remove the bone and skin myself...then I cut that thing in half because it's usually around 8 oz...so one breast serves 2 people...
etc, etc, etc, etc. Also keep an eye out for sales...buy fruit and veg in season and don't buy into, "you have to have X, Y, or Z" because it's the latest and greatest in "healthy" eating. The above staples are staples in my home...they were staples in my parents home when I was growing up...and staples in my grandparents home before that.0 -
I recently lost my main source of income and for the first 3 months of my diet I was living off of $20.00 a week grocery money. It was not as hard as it sounds to make it. I shopped at mainly the Dollar Tree-for my frozen vegetables (including spinach),frozen pineapple, mixed berries, and mango, green tea, cheese, eggs, oatmeal, and salsa. Then I would buy whatever was left over for my fish and poultry. Of course, I am only shopping for one person, not a family-but hopefully this will give you some ideas on how to budget.0
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You mentioned you buy a lot of frozen vegetables in bulk, and it could be different where you live, but here in Ontario (Canada) it is substantially less expensive to buy fresh produce. As an example, a small thing of dried parsley can range from $4 to over $10, whereas a large bundle of fresh parsley is only $0.69. Also, buy loose, unpackaged, uncut produce. A small bin of mushrooms, whole or sliced, is $2-3 or more, while loose white or brown mushrooms add up to less than a dollar for quite a few because they weigh so little. Again, a package of romaine lettuce hearts is $4 or more (and doesn't last as long as they've been separated) whereas a bundle of Romaine is $0.99. For fruit, a small container of sliced pineapple is $5+; a cored, peeled whole (but uncut) pineapple is $3.99; one pineapple is $2.49. Frozen fruit as well is also more expensive than cutting and freezing fruit yourself, plus you can get much more of a variety for smoothies buying fresh. The same thing goes for frozen meat, which, here, is also much more expensive than buying fresh meat. We individually wrap our meats and freeze what we won't use right away as soon as we get home. Buy meats that have % or $ off stickers and use immediately or freeze when you get home, and when meat, fruits, bread (or anything you can freeze for that matter) goes on sale, stock up and freeze them yourself. My boyfriend and I do that so often we're thinking of investing in a chest freezer. It's a good idea to portion everything you freeze so that you don't have to thaw more than you need, and you also avoid freezer burn that way. Also buying bone-in meat is less expensive, especially for chicken, and you can use the discards for making dirt cheap soup (my boyfriend always does this after he frees my chicken breasts for salads and stir fries) and a big batch of soup will feed him for weeks.
Like Daryllynn515 I also calculate my costs as I shop. I don't use a calculator, I actually overestimate so that my actual cost is always lower than I anticipated, and I don't end up buy anything I don't need. I also look at grocery flyers every week at 4 different grocery stores around me, and build my meals around items that are on sale, or stock up items I use often once they go on sale (ie: almond milk) so that I almost never have to buy them at full price. It's not as inconvenient as it sounds, considering that I don't drive and walk to and from all the grocery stores I shop to. Shopping lists with built in meal plans are key for saving money.0 -
We stopped buying juice, coke, or beer, unless we have people over. So that money goes to fruits and veggies. And one meatless meal a week.helps. Usually on Sundays we have breakfast for dinner! Like French toasts, waffle, crepes all made from scratch, or eggs ...
I shop also at stores that do price match.
Yes it takes a bit of planning.
We are a family of 3 boys, the hubby and I.
After a while the kids got over the no juice rule.0 -
Family of three, myself, husband and 13yo daughter (in sports, she can EAT).
I second the "ethnic" food stores. I live in Southern CA and there are many Asian and Hispanic food stores where the produce is very, very cheap.
I buy all my produce, grains and spices at this local produce store. I generally only spend about $20 per week and we eat A LOT of produce in our house.
I never buy meat full price, unless it's at Costco where the price per pound is around sale price anyway.
I have a vacuum sealer, I adore it. I buy in bulk, pack up, freeze and store. It was super cheap, I don't think I paid over $30 for it on Amazon. I also got the bags for like $15 and I re-use any bags that weren't storing meat.
ETA: We also go meatless once or twice a week.0 -
If you have farmers markets in your area, they are a great place to stock up on fruits and veggies for cheap.
Also, honestly when fund are really tight, we become vegetarian. Tofu and beans are a lot cheaper than chicken or fish. I've gotten pretty creative at working on recipes that have protein but no meat. Or, I wait until whole chickens are on sale or something, cook one up and use bits here and there throughout the week.
If you have Safeway, I've found the downloadable coupons are easily and usually end up saving me as much or more as I would going to one of the super discount canned food warehouse type stores.0
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